Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I am not aware when those will be put in place. I will therefore offer to provide the Member with that information in writing on Monday or Tuesday.

Oral questions. Mr. Henry.

The Minister responsible for Public Works and Services, Mr. Steen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the short answer is yes, the department would definitely consider it. The department will look into the advantages of using this process and I will get back to the Member as to what the results of the department study is on this. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Henry

Mr. Minister.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I cannot give my honourable colleague a definite date on that, however, I will try to bring it to a close with some kind of information on this as quickly as possible. I am sure the department is well aware of the question at this point, I am also aware that this particular question was put to the department when my predecessor, Mr. Roland, was involved. Obviously we are not moving fast enough on this as far as the Member is concerned, but I will commit to it again. I will bring it up to the department for a quick response. Thank you, Mr. Speaker

Oral questions. Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question for today is for the Minister of Justice, the Honourable Mr. Kakfwi. It is in relationship to concerns that business people and others may have. It is to deal with the small claims court and the amount of dollars that an individual can go to small claims court on. At the present time it is $5,000. My personal opinion, and some feedback I have received, is that it should be higher than $5,000, Mr. Speaker. There are always difficulties on the part of a business if it is $5,500, then you cannot go to small claims court, it has to be done through lawyers and by the judges. I believe even some of the legal people would probably agree with me because some of them are very small claims. Also it would save this government money in court costs if individuals were allowed to argue before the courts that the claim is owed. It saves court time. I know in other jurisdictions there are small claims courts and judges specifically dedicated for this. I am wondering if the Minister would consider having his department look at changing the level and the amount that could be claimed in court under the small claims court by changing it up from $5,000? Thank you.

The Minister responsible for the Department of Justice, Mr. Kakfwi.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It is the view of the Department of Justice that the limit for small claims is sufficient at this time. If there are some compelling reasons why that should be changed, I am prepared to consider it, so if the Member could advance those to me I would be prepared to review that again. Thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's approach to this that if I had compelling reasons, but I am wondering if the department has compelling reasons why it is not being changed. In my opinion, and I think if the department were to consult with the business community and the individuals in organizations they would likely find that there would be support for this approach, so rather then me coming up with all the compelling reasons which I think my comments are very logical in my mind, I wonder if the Minister can ask for justification from his officials as to why they will not change it? Thank you.

Minister of Justice, Mr. Kakfwi

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as I understand it the Department of Justice has decided that there would be no change to the limit at this time. I would be prepared to give the Member, in writing, the reasons that the Department of Justice has for sticking to that decision. I will be prepared to do that, thank you.

Oral questions. Supplementary, Mr. Ootes.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I wonder if the Minister could also ask his department if they could get comparisons from other jurisdictions, the provinces and so forth, what the amounts are, and some of the compelling reasons why they are at those levels in those particular jurisdictions? Thank you.

Mr. Minister.

Yes, Mr. Speaker

Oral questions. Mrs. Groenewegen.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last week sometime in the House I suggested to the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment that we might take some of the money which has been allocated to some training programs and use them in conjunction with the students in our schools. I was thinking of young elementary school students with special needs. I have had a chance to think about it a little bit more. Mr. Speaker, apparently there is a need to train special needs assistants and as we know we have students that could use the benefits of remedial type work in some of the basics in education over the summer months. I know it has probably been tried to some extent, in some of the communities, whereby there are summer schools available to parents and students who need to get caught up over the summer, but I am thinking more of a remedial education programs perhaps in the morning and a summer camp program in the afternoons, something to that effect which would integrate employing students and training people in the area of special needs work in the schools. Has the Minister had a chance to give any more thought to this idea in directing some of this funding he has allocated to training to this area of special needs students? Thank you.